The municipality of Frederiksberg (Denmark) issued passports in the preferred time and place of families with children with the aid of Biometric Solutions ApS
“We were present in the Frederiksberg Centre on Saturday June 5th from 10 am to 17 pm. Our event was an effort to accommodate citizens’ wishes to be able to have passports made on a Saturday. At the same time it was a chance to be open for service an extra day during a period when many people needed passports issued,” says Sara Mia Petersen, Civil Service Chief at the municipality of Frederiksberg.
The municipality had advertised the event in advance, and local media had also mentioned it. Citizens could complete the application online from home and have the application approved Saturday at the Frederiksberg Centre, a major shopping centre in the middle of Frederiksberg in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“We saw a lot of interest from citizens both inside and outside the municipality of Frederiksberg. We had positive feedback from citizens who met us at the centre, as well as on the municipality’s Facebook page. There is a clear desire for this kind of event close to the citizens and outside normal working hours,” Sara Mia Petersen says.
At the municipality’s mobile stand, citizens had their passport applications approved, they had their passport photos taken, fingerprints registered and their signatures scanned. All in a regular “suitcase” with a built-in computer, camera, scanners for fingerprints and signature as well as a 4G mobile data connection (LTE). The suitcase has been developed by Biometric Solutions and adapted to the requirements of the municipality of Frederiksberg.
High-resolution fingerprints were a challenge
Not everything went smoothly. When the shopping centre was full of customers with smartphones in their pockets, the cellular network was so overloaded, that the large image files with fingerprints and passport photos were not transferred quickly enough.
“Many times our service took much longer than we would encounter in our daily routines at City Hall. That is why we did not issue as many passports as we could have,” says Sara Mia Petersen. Since the event, Biometric Solutions have successfully reduced the required bandwidth needed to make an application, facilitating a faster process even at poor network conditions.
The passport suitcase may be used for other purposes too
The passport suitcase may be utilised for a wide range of services for the citizens, as it contains a computer with a data connection to the municipal network. It provides new opportunities for the municipality of Frederiksberg:
“There will be a number of communal matters internally at Town Hall, where it may come into play. We will be able to serve citizens without the actual civil service office being open,” said Sara Mia Petersen.
“There is great potential in cooperating with the library or local associations like Ældre Sagen (a senior citizen organisation). Both the library and Ældre Sagen have target groups not always provided for by our opening hours.”
People before technology
The passport suitcase is provided by Danish Biometric Solutions ApS, specialists in user-friendly solutions for issuing identity documents. “When a municipality serves the citizens on location, the process of issuing identity papers is made more personal and much less mysterious. For the citizens, it is a positive change, because they can do most of the work from home and make an appointment online. It provides the citizen with a pleasant feeling of control over the process,” says Alex Ramskov Johannsen, CEO of Biometric Solutions ApS.
The passport suitcase is only one part of the solution, which also consists of permanently installed biometrics stations at the municipality’s civil service office, as well as an online self-service, where citizens can fill out their applications in advance for passports, driver’s licenses or ID cards and make an appointment, so the physical expedition at the municipality’s office only takes five minutes.
“The technology for the recording of biometrics is currently at a high level and whether it is hardware from Dermalog, Crossmatch or some other supplier, we integrate it into the solution our client wants,” Alex Ramskov Johannsen explains and continues: “Our mission is to give people the maximum benefit of the technology:
We create coherent physical frameworks and IT systems that provide a quality experience and save time for both the citizens and employees of the municipality. And, at the same time, we ensure high quality and security in the production of identity papers.”
More about the passport suitcase http://biometricsolutions.dk/en/biometric-suitcase/
Try it: Order a new Danish passport at the municipality of Frederiksberg
https://selvbetjening.mitpas.dk/?key=A147&SOP=PAS (NB: in Danish)
Alex Ramskov Johannsen
CEO
Biometric Solutions ApS
Tel: +45 2684 2695
Please note: This is a commercial profile
